The Importance of Interpretation

The concept of hermeneutics while studying religious texts is vitally important in helping the reader  contextualize the piece. Prior to the reading and class, my knowledge of hermeneutics was limited at best. The concept of studying the process of interpretation was completely foreign to me. However, as I began to greater understand hermeneutics, I began to fully appreciate its value. Religious texts, in many ways, are purposefully ambiguous. We as readers must try and attempt to take the words of ancient authors, and must interpret their messages millennias apart from the time that they were written. What struck me the most about the concept was the belief that the reader's interpretation carries more value that the purpose of the author. I thought that Barthes best explains the belief when he goes on to describe the reader as, "a man without history," and that soon as the reader begins, the author begins to die. Religiously, this concept that that the the author dies when the reader begins to interpret it is incredibly important. Religious followers attempt to derive spiritual and philosophical answers from text that was written way before their time. It is the duty of the believer to use hermeneutics, or his or her ability to interpret, to take away what they look for in the text, whether that be spiritual guidance or simple social etiquette. Hermeneutics allows religious followers to gain multiple conclusion from one piece of text, which I personally think is vitally important for the longevity of religion in today's world.


Andrew